18:38 you were very polite and calm, when explaining to Art about pinch points. That is very refreshing to see. I have worked for bosses who were considerably less than calm when mistakes happened.
@@Dirtmonkey When it comes to safety it does not bother me. In basic training you do not keep your weapon pointed up and down range at the range, the yelling is the not the worst thing that will happen to you. You will be taken down to the ground with a lot of force. If I am doing something dumb with a saw, where I could cut off my leg, little yelling in my book shows they care.
@@DubhghlasMacDubhghlas there is a fine line between being stern / keeping workers safe, and being a nitpicky A-hole. And at least to me, those are very important distinctions to make. Especially as a boss.
@@Dirtmonkey Oh I understand. From what I have seen you seem like a good boss to work for. I remember when you sent one of your worker home because he refused to do light duty with a messed up arm. I know you care about your guys. I do believe when it comes to safety it is about the only time it is somewhat acceptable to yell at people.
Pointing out the fact, that accidents are not always operator error…help force the operator to acknowledge he is in a bad spot…….pop goes a hose and boom your crushed
That’s how I am! The less I say I go back to work faster and get it done. Sometimes I say to much when I should just bite my tongue and shut my mouth. No matter what anyone says after my mind is ready to get back to work all I hear is Mahna Mahna Do doo be-do-do Mahna Mahna Do do-do do… I need to work!
Just finished 545 ft of basing all by my lonesome. Took me almost a month and about 6 more days with my crew to build the wall to final height. I can say I would never have had the confidence to stick it out without your videos Stan. Thanks for the lessons, entertainment and new revenue stream brother!
I'm sure your back was happy after that run, long wall = tuff man. I did 8x8" drive way pavers, 8hrs a day for 16 days, it was something like 65 pallets/320 pavers a pallet, wore down some nice knee pads
Thank you on the mention of low psi concrete for the base. Installers have to know options when installing retaining walls. I love your crews, wish I could have had them when I was in business. With a couple of tools and attachments we could really make them fly! We had a metal rail system for installing walls with a steel grading blade and enough room to run the plate tamper between the rails. The blade was adjustable for pitch and the rail system was flexible to allow curves. We used what you call grade 5 we called CA-6 and FA-16 (stone dust for minor adjustments under 1/2"). Back fill was CA-7 or CA-11 for the 12+ inches behind the wall and CA-6 if it had to carry a load or impervious clay compacter in 6" lifts with a point producing compactor. Your guys did a great job on that wall, I love a well corradiated crew that is not limited to just one thing.
Thank you Paul, sounds like you were in the business. You know the termonilogy well. We have used class 5 as base in the past but its not our go to materials.
What a cool 😎 video.That wall will last many many years. Mn can really get cold 🥶. The frost can make a wall like this fall. This one will take anything a good old Mn winter can throw at it. Learned a lot watching this. Thanks 😊.
Blaine - clearly a man who takes pride in his work, taking the time to get those base blocks right, and not half @$$ing it as "good enough". He'll be able to go by that wall 20 years from now and it'll look as good then as the day he put it in.
Oh yea! It definitely helps. To me personally, basing seems like the hardest part of building a wall. I’ve actually build a wall before with a guy I used to work with. And I knew our wall sucked. It was curving in, it wasn’t level, etc. but the customer seemed happy lol. To be fair, we never did walls before and didn’t even know how to do them. We “winged it”. But since I’m starting my own landscaping company, I want to learn how to do these walls properly because im a perfectionist. Thanks for giving us a glimpse of what it truly takes.
Glad to see I use the same techniques, but im REALLY glad to see I'm not the only one to take 10minutes or more on one base block! 😅 so damn aggrevating
I also want to say thank you. I had to fire my retaining wall contractor today. First time I've ever hired someone and your channel showed me how to spot poor quality work. -no gravel base for 50/65 feet of wall -no core fill -no drainage rock after the first two rows So now I'm tackling it myself with your help! Thanks again
Ey hey stan, hope all s well, were getting some rain tonight, much needed, the weather is looking to get even worse this week, with temps in thee upper 90s, i think one day this week will hit 98 degrees, just nasty all around, and the humidity is awful, looks like the project is coming along nicely, and for dinner we went to a local bar and had bar food, i stuck with what i know is good,a nd that’s a bacon cheeseburger, and i got a bowl of soup, was excellent all around. Anyways, have a great night stan, god bless and go get em, your pal and friend Alexander costa
Hey buddy glad you’re doin good! A bacon cheeseburger would hit the spot right now. I’m trying to stay cool myself, pretty sure it was over 100 degrees in my neck of the woods today. Pretty brutal. Makes me miss the frozen temps a bit lol. Gotta stay hydrated out here! God Bless & go get em 👊
Stan just saw you with victory and it directed me to your channel. Wow watched both of the series build. VERY informative! I learned a great deal thank you. Time lapse was great.
At lot easier and accurate to set the base blocks on a 1/4-1/2" leveling course (screeded washed sand) on top of your level base rock. You guys definitely do a great job.
Been in dirt work and hardscapes for better part of 30yrs, up here in Washington we use rock with fines, 3/8s minus for base, don't know what kind of clr base material you have in your state, but you can plate that stuff till the cows come home and I could kick a 3" deep hole with my steel toes, different states/materials/building practices but if it works for you (obviously I've seen many of the excellent big/tall/long walls your company have produced on the channel). With your quality finished product I'm sure you have work lined up for life. You have some good employees, all part of the foundation to success that you are at
Stan get a bunch of Class IV throwable PFDs for kneeling cushions for your guys. They are the best and the handles on the side make them easier to move down the row. I use them for so many uses. Jim Buoy brand are the best and last forever.
@@Dirtmonkey I was a sub until you started doing more equipment reviews than actual job site work. I've always enjoyed the explanation part of the work being performed. I can't praise your enough! Quality 1#.. as far as changing anything, it's up to you and the analytics on your dashboard. I wouldnt want to take anything from you, if your headed in the direction you want then it's ALL GOOD!
Lol, I have that same butt cushion I bought at Walmart for when we go to the racetrack and have to sit on them hard bleachers. That's what I used to install floors with. I hate knee pads so that's what I use.
Wow I paused to hear dirt monk. say cement and open grade type practices on footings. Times are changing! Edit- back again for the rope in channel trick! These are the videos that I want!
I appreciate these tutorial videos! We are finally getting a much needed shot of rain, which otta help the grass out a little, all though we are gonna be in the high 90s the rest of this week. I hope you are doing well on this beautiful monday! Keep up the great work!
Man I love your videos. I learn a ton from them. But this video left me with a bunch of questions. One was, when they were backfilling with rock, why was it tapered and how far should a person go out? How can you compact an angle like that? How far apart should a person put drains in the wall along with having the downspout draining through as well?
Probably too late to answer but depending upon the wall height and with the right soil & drainage conditions, and type of surcharge (any load from any angle) that will be on the wall, you can excavate as least as 12 to 18 inches at the base and up a couple of feet/rows to allow for proper drainage field, then ledge it excavating back to 4 feet from the face. The higher you go with the wall the further back you would excavate so that you can put in the necessary increasing depths of geogrid. This also helps prevent a landslide during construction. Walls over 4ft tall need reinforcement and/or engineering, and this wall appears to be tall enough to need 4 to 6 feet of grid starting at the middle to 3/4 height. There’s a formula to figure how much grid is needed based on wall face height and surcharges. This is general info, there are more caveats. Hope this helps.
Hey guys- Why arent you putting a string on the front of the blocks? I always do that and find it way easier. It is nice to see you work! Greeting from a fellow paver in Denmark.
What's the long-term side of Versa-block look like? I'm in my late 40s and plan to live in my home for forever! I don't want to be replacing block after 20 or 30 years.
I don't see where any strength comes from there...do they somehow interlock? And the drainage line only appeared to be run from the back---maybe primarily for the house gutters? I ask because it's clear that water is coming through the back and out the front. I'd be afraid of eventual washout failure. Another thing is how does something like that hold up over time with winters? I know from experience that eventually the constant expansion/contraction of ice crystals will play hell shifting rock walls etc. Otherwise beautiful looking work though.
17:35 Question is your steps attached to the wall on the left side? If not how do you treat the gap between? Very good job as always love watching your work.
I'm in Michigan never been to Wisconsin before never realized Wisconsin was so hilly in need of so many retaining walls. Is there a pin 📌 that locks the blocks into each other?
18:38 you were very polite and calm, when explaining to Art about pinch points. That is very refreshing to see. I have worked for bosses who were considerably less than calm when mistakes happened.
Nothin worse than a spazzy boss 😂
@@Dirtmonkey When it comes to safety it does not bother me. In basic training you do not keep your weapon pointed up and down range at the range, the yelling is the not the worst thing that will happen to you. You will be taken down to the ground with a lot of force.
If I am doing something dumb with a saw, where I could cut off my leg, little yelling in my book shows they care.
@@DubhghlasMacDubhghlas there is a fine line between being stern / keeping workers safe, and being a nitpicky A-hole. And at least to me, those are very important distinctions to make. Especially as a boss.
@@Dirtmonkey Oh I understand. From what I have seen you seem like a good boss to work for.
I remember when you sent one of your worker home because he refused to do light duty with a messed up arm. I know you care about your guys.
I do believe when it comes to safety it is about the only time it is somewhat acceptable to yell at people.
Pointing out the fact, that accidents are not always operator error…help force the operator to acknowledge he is in a bad spot…….pop goes a hose and boom your crushed
Anytime Stan is talking to Blaine, Blaine always has the “cmon, I gotta get back to work” look.
Can’t complain 😂👍
That’s how I am! The less I say I go back to work faster and get it done.
Sometimes I say to much when I should just bite my tongue and shut my mouth. No matter what anyone says after my mind is ready to get back to work all I hear is Mahna Mahna
Do doo be-do-do
Mahna Mahna
Do do-do do…
I need to work!
Just finished 545 ft of basing all by my lonesome. Took me almost a month and about 6 more days with my crew to build the wall to final height. I can say I would never have had the confidence to stick it out without your videos Stan. Thanks for the lessons, entertainment and new revenue stream brother!
That is fricken awesome. Proud of you brother!! Go get em
I'm sure your back was happy after that run, long wall = tuff man. I did 8x8" drive way pavers, 8hrs a day for 16 days, it was something like 65 pallets/320 pavers a pallet, wore down some nice knee pads
Blaine is such a perfectionist, love his work.
Those are the best workers 👌
Thank you on the mention of low psi concrete for the base. Installers have to know options when installing retaining walls. I love your crews, wish I could have had them when I was in business. With a couple of tools and attachments we could really make them fly! We had a metal rail system for installing walls with a steel grading blade and enough room to run the plate tamper between the rails. The blade was adjustable for pitch and the rail system was flexible to allow curves. We used what you call grade 5 we called CA-6 and FA-16 (stone dust for minor adjustments under 1/2"). Back fill was CA-7 or CA-11 for the 12+ inches behind the wall and CA-6 if it had to carry a load or impervious clay compacter in 6" lifts with a point producing compactor.
Your guys did a great job on that wall, I love a well corradiated crew that is not limited to just one thing.
Thank you Paul, sounds like you were in the business. You know the termonilogy well. We have used class 5 as base in the past but its not our go to materials.
Great attention to detail.
5:15 I never considered a level as a throwaway tool before. That is very liberating. Thank you.
He’s not talking about a stabila. He’s talking about a $25 one from Home Depot.
To me all levels are throw away tools. I don't buy the expensive ones becasue they all get beat and hammered on the same .
You inspire me so much that ur one of the reasons why I started my UA-cam channel 🤙🏼
German OSHA awards you 100 OSHA points for ensuring your college moves away from the excavator pinch point. Well done. :)
What a cool 😎 video.That wall will last many many years. Mn can really get cold 🥶. The frost can make a wall like this fall. This one will take anything a good old Mn winter can throw at it. Learned a lot watching this. Thanks 😊.
Definitely gets a bit chilly to say the least lol 🥶 you’re right this should totally last it though!
Awesome work!
Blaine - clearly a man who takes pride in his work, taking the time to get those base blocks right, and not half @$$ing it as "good enough". He'll be able to go by that wall 20 years from now and it'll look as good then as the day he put it in.
That is key 😀
Very good video. Those walls look so good. Those steps are perfect. Blaine is the man.
You know it. Thanks!
Very impressive work by your crew Stan.👏🏼👏🏼👍🇨🇦🇺🇸
Ur an inspiration sir, you inspire me to keep making UA-cam vids 🙏🏼
Go get em 👍
Oh yea! It definitely helps. To me personally, basing seems like the hardest part of building a wall. I’ve actually build a wall before with a guy I used to work with. And I knew our wall sucked. It was curving in, it wasn’t level, etc. but the customer seemed happy lol. To be fair, we never did walls before and didn’t even know how to do them. We “winged it”. But since I’m starting my own landscaping company, I want to learn how to do these walls properly because im a perfectionist. Thanks for giving us a glimpse of what it truly takes.
I found the extra detail in these two videos very helpful. Thank You. I’ll be building my wall in Texas when this heat wave breaks… Maybe October
I can sit here beside my wife and not talk all day. As soon as I start watching your video she wants to talk. It took me 2 hours to watch this.
At least ya got through it 😂👍
Glad to see I use the same techniques, but im REALLY glad to see I'm not the only one to take 10minutes or more on one base block! 😅 so damn aggrevating
Looking excellent thanx for videos it makes my day
Thanks for being here!
Would love to see more detail on how you properly step the wall down! Love the channel.
Sounds like a plan
I also want to say thank you. I had to fire my retaining wall contractor today. First time I've ever hired someone and your channel showed me how to spot poor quality work.
-no gravel base for 50/65 feet of wall
-no core fill
-no drainage rock after the first two rows
So now I'm tackling it myself with your help! Thanks again
This was an awesome 2 part video. So many helpful suggestions.
Glad it was helpful!
Really enjoyed that one! Love watching the work sites. Thanks for all your effort in putting out the videos for us!
Excellent build, great presentation. Thanks
Bad ass attention to detail at it’s finest 🎯🤌🏽🤙🏽
Ey hey stan, hope all s well, were getting some rain tonight, much needed, the weather is looking to get even worse this week, with temps in thee upper 90s, i think one day this week will hit 98 degrees, just nasty all around, and the humidity is awful, looks like the project is coming along nicely, and for dinner we went to a local bar and had bar food, i stuck with what i know is good,a nd that’s a bacon cheeseburger, and i got a bowl of soup, was excellent all around. Anyways, have a great night stan, god bless and go get em, your pal and friend Alexander costa
Hey buddy glad you’re doin good! A bacon cheeseburger would hit the spot right now. I’m trying to stay cool myself, pretty sure it was over 100 degrees in my neck of the woods today. Pretty brutal. Makes me miss the frozen temps a bit lol. Gotta stay hydrated out here! God Bless & go get em 👊
Now I don't feel so bad taking 20 minutes for a base block, I needed that thanks.
That is a nice looking wall. Its like art.
Another great video Stan, and again love the content and music
Heck yeah thanks bud
Great works Dirt Monkey and God bless you and your team always and forever Amen.
5 star job for shure Blain's perfection shows all the way beautiful work
So good 😁👍
So good 😁👍
Great video! Lucky homeowners!
That looks sooo nice.
Yeehaw 😎
Thank you. great information on the process.
Stoked to share 👍
Stan just saw you with victory and it directed me to your channel. Wow watched both of the series build. VERY informative! I learned a great deal thank you. Time lapse was great.
At lot easier and accurate to set the base blocks on a 1/4-1/2" leveling course (screeded washed sand) on top of your level base rock. You guys definitely do a great job.
That real time footage helped me. thank you!
Beautiful wall!
Thank you!
Beautiful work wall looks amazing would love to have that at my home
Much appreciated🙏
Been in dirt work and hardscapes for better part of 30yrs, up here in Washington we use rock with fines, 3/8s minus for base, don't know what kind of clr base material you have in your state, but you can plate that stuff till the cows come home and I could kick a 3" deep hole with my steel toes, different states/materials/building practices but if it works for you (obviously I've seen many of the excellent big/tall/long walls your company have produced on the channel). With your quality finished product I'm sure you have work lined up for life. You have some good employees, all part of the foundation to success that you are at
All about that base...
😂👊
Nice one Stan. 👍👍🏴🏴
Super nice 👍🏻 job
Thank you very much
That's a beautiful wall!
Stan get a bunch of Class IV throwable PFDs for kneeling cushions for your guys. They are the best and the handles on the side make them easier to move down the row. I use them for so many uses. Jim Buoy brand are the best and last forever.
Sweet I’ll check em out thanks!
Great video and thanks for doing it in real time so we can see how it is done properly 👍
Stan, the wall looks awesome. Thanks for sharing👍👍👍👍👍😺🤗🐺
Thanks for caring 😁 & I appreciate it!
Your channel is the only reason why I use Versalok block and the only Reason how I even learned how to do retaining walls.
That’s awesome to hear. Glad you’re here
great views
Well done Blaine and the boys!
Wow Stan those stairs turned out really nice. That was an excellent job your 'Dirt Monkey Team' did.
Thanks Eric glad ya like it!
Brilliant people love the videos thank you ❤️👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Make sure Blaine has a new pair of gloves for each job!!😉
good call- he wears em out fast
Keep Blaine happy at the company. He's an awesome employee. My biggest worry would be he leaves you to go our on his own.
I’d miss him but still be happy for him too 👍
dont like your infomercial style channel but MAN can you build retaining walls!
Sorry to hear it. I’m curious on what you’d like to see different?
@@Dirtmonkey I was a sub until you started doing more equipment reviews than actual job site work. I've always enjoyed the explanation part of the work being performed. I can't praise your enough! Quality 1#.. as far as changing anything, it's up to you and the analytics on your dashboard. I wouldnt want to take anything from you, if your headed in the direction you want then it's ALL GOOD!
@@vinnyhern thanks for the feedback! I appreciate it
@@Dirtmonkey maybe try 2 separate channels q for reviews
You could just skip the review videos
Glad your aware of your employees safety.
Lol, I have that same butt cushion I bought at Walmart for when we go to the racetrack and have to sit on them hard bleachers. That's what I used to install floors with. I hate knee pads so that's what I use.
awesome project
Thanks!
Anytime 😁
its beautiful!!
Thank you! 😊
Good!
Not sure if u ever posted it but would love to see the actual start. Digging, compacting dirt, filling with 3/4 stone and compacting that
What I did catch of that is in part 1
@@Dirtmonkey thanks for the reply brother
here to help keep them coming
Thanks Nash
Great video.
I enjoyed #1 & #2. Cool project.
Glad to hear it 👊
We typically design our mse walls to burry 2 courses below finish grade for slide (horiz) stability.
Thats a good rule of thumb
Wow I paused to hear dirt monk. say cement and open grade type practices on footings. Times are changing!
Edit- back again for the rope in channel trick! These are the videos that I want!
hope they help!
Stan love watching your videos ! Keep ‘‘em coming !!
Appreciate the support brother 🙏👊
Keep ‘em coming
You betcha 👍
I appreciate these tutorial videos! We are finally getting a much needed shot of rain, which otta help the grass out a little, all though we are gonna be in the high 90s the rest of this week. I hope you are doing well on this beautiful monday! Keep up the great work!
Feel it! Gotta stay grateful for the rain
Blaine needs the boss man to buy him some new gloves
Very Nice WoW !!
Many thanks!!
Nice.
👍
Awesome content very informative.
Wall looks good 👍, nice job to all.
Thanks man
I'd love to see how you do the curve
Beautiful job ! Thank you for this video verrewy informative.
Outstanding crew!
Thank you!!
Looks good to me!
Good looking project!
Much appreciated
Amazing and educational video on how much work goes into building a retaining wall correctly S"DM"G great job.
I try 😁
Pave tool's quick e wall screed not neccessary but helps can also run pipes.
If you were just starting out new in dirt work what would your first piece of equipment be? Mini excavator or skid steere? And why
Man I love your videos. I learn a ton from them. But this video left me with a bunch of questions. One was, when they were backfilling with rock, why was it tapered and how far should a person go out? How can you compact an angle like that? How far apart should a person put drains in the wall along with having the downspout draining through as well?
Probably too late to answer but depending upon the wall height and with the right soil & drainage conditions, and type of surcharge (any load from any angle) that will be on the wall, you can excavate as least as 12 to 18 inches at the base and up a couple of feet/rows to allow for proper drainage field, then ledge it excavating back to 4 feet from the face. The higher you go with the wall the further back you would excavate so that you can put in the necessary increasing depths of geogrid.
This also helps prevent a landslide during construction. Walls over 4ft tall need reinforcement and/or engineering, and this wall appears to be tall enough to need 4 to 6 feet of grid starting at the middle to 3/4 height. There’s a formula to figure how much grid is needed based on wall face height and surcharges. This is general info, there are more caveats. Hope this helps.
Nice man!! So much appreciate
Thanks for being here 😁
i’d run a string off the back side of the base block instead of using a level on the backside to keep the wall straight.
sometimes we do on longer runs
Good job
What is that red wired rod they’re using to check grade?
Get to that 1 mil subs woot woot
Can u possibly do a video of making a retaining wall that's on a budget but is made to help keep or slow down a hill from sliding
I’ll look into it. I like that idea
Blaine is so precise. ❓ Sam ❓ As always good luck and God Bless.
He’s a good worker. Didn’t need much help here 👍
Great vid as usual…… but I thought a wall should start at the lowest point..which appears to be where you finished at, the bottom of the drive?…
Hey guys-
Why arent you putting a string on the front of the blocks?
I always do that and find it way easier.
It is nice to see you work!
Greeting from a fellow paver in Denmark.
Brilliant video loved every minute ❤️👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
What's the long-term side of Versa-block look like? I'm in my late 40s and plan to live in my home for forever! I don't want to be replacing block after 20 or 30 years.
I don't see where any strength comes from there...do they somehow interlock? And the drainage line only appeared to be run from the back---maybe primarily for the house gutters? I ask because it's clear that water is coming through the back and out the front. I'd be afraid of eventual washout failure. Another thing is how does something like that hold up over time with winters? I know from experience that eventually the constant expansion/contraction of ice crystals will play hell shifting rock walls etc. Otherwise beautiful looking work though.
Nice job. I like those blocks, can’t get them here.
17:35 Question is your steps attached to the wall on the left side? If not how do you treat the gap between? Very good job as always love watching your work.
I'm in Michigan never been to Wisconsin before never realized Wisconsin was so hilly in need of so many retaining walls. Is there a pin 📌 that locks the blocks into each other?
, the man explains everything to his audience👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Nice to see a retaining wall video it's been a little while
Happy to share em!